DEA's raids on pot clubs target international dealers

DEA's major raids on pot clubs target international dealersAgents say they intend to enforce the federal ban on medical marijuana

GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, July 3, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Authorities described last month's raids on San Francisco pot clubs as one of the largest drug crackdowns in the area in recent memory and said the arrests were the first step in uncovering a major international drug operation.

U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan said agents raided three pot clubs that operated as fronts for marijuana and Ecstasy trafficking and warned that federal drug laws would be strictly enforced even in cities tolerant of medical marijuana.

"We're empathetic to the ill and to the sick, however we cannot disregard federal law," said Drug Enforcement Administration agent Javier Pena. "We have the power to enforce federal drug laws even in areas where it might not be popular."

Twenty people were indicted on federal drug charges in court documents unsealed June 23, and an arrest warrant has been issued for another. Two others face state charges, and more arrests are pending, Ryan said.

After a two-year investigation dubbed Operation Urban Harvest, officials searched 25 residences and businesses throughout the Bay Area. They seized about 9,300 pot plants with a street value of about $5 million, Ryan said.

Despite the city's recognition of medical pot clubs as legal, San Francisco police officers participated in the investigation but did not make arrests or enter the marijuana clubs.

Although federal officials said at a news conference that the raids would not usher in a broader crackdown on marijuana dispensaries in the city, protesters outside said they sent an ominous message to patients.

"I'm scared," said Kathleen Prevost, who said she uses marijuana to control her post-traumatic stress disorder. "All I want to do is have access to my medicine."

Authorities said the Supreme Court decision two weeks ago that medical marijuana is illegal was not the impetus behind the busts.